Argentine football is a maze that even the many compatriots of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi struggle to navigate. It is the sport that binds a polarised nation wrestling with deep economic problems, yet no-one seems entirely sure how its competitions actually work.
And who could blame them? From one week to the next, clubs can jump from a half-season league format to play-offs for a Cup or a Super Cup – and then, perhaps, to a second Super Cup. Yes, there are two.
“No-one understands it; everything changes all the time. The only logic is the power-building of the directors,” says sports journalist Andrés Burgo, author of several books on the nation’s main passion: football.
The latest change caught supporters off-guard, although fans have long been accustomed to the whims of the sport’s administrators, who tend to justify these shifts as commercial or sporting strategies designed to boost player sales.
On Thursday, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) declared Ángel Di María’s home club Rosario Central league champions. Less than half a season after the World Cup winner returned home, his club were crowned for finishing with the most points in the overall table, which combines the totals from the two half-season competitions.
The decision to award a trophy for this was not included in the initial regulations and sparked an immediate complaint from Estudiantes de la Plata, Central’s opponents last Sunday in the last 16 knockout round of one of the Clausura tournament.
Controversially, Estudiantes players turned their backs on the new “league champions” during the traditional guard of honour – before defeating them 1-0.
‘Frankenstein’ competition
After receiving the trophy last week, Rosario Central club president Gonzalo Belloso argued that the explosion of competitions reflects Argentina’s “very inclusive” system, which gives opportunities to big and small clubs alike.
Adding the new recognition, domestic football’s governing body, AFA, will hand out at least eight trophies in 2026.
As well as the new league title, there are champions for the Apertura (first half of the league), the Clausura (second half), the Copa Argentina, the Supercopa Internacional, Supercopa Argentina, the Trofeo de Campeones (or “Champions Trophy”) and the Recopa de Campeones.
“For now, anyway,” Burgo joked.
The creation of the Recopa was announced the same day Central celebrated their unexpected title – Di María’s first since returning home in May.
Who will contest it? The winners of the Copa Argentina, the Supercopa Argentina and the Supercopa Internacional.
And who plays in the Copa and the Supercopas? The Copa Argentina is straightforward: it mirrors global formats, involving all 30 top-flight clubs – way more than the 18 or 20 in major European leagues – plus sides from other divisions.
It is with the two Supercopas that the labyrinth begins again, emphasising what some describe as a “Frankenstein” structure.
The Supercopa Argentina pits the Copa Argentina winners against the holders of the Trofeo de Campeones, while the Supercopa Internacional pairs together the side with the most points in the annual table – now the league champions, i.e. Rosario Central this year – and the winners of the Trofeo de Campeones.
Questions over quality
So, how do you win the Trofeo de Campeones? By winning either the Apertura or the Clausura – and then beating the winner of the other half-season tournament in a final.
This two-tournament calendar is common in South America, although Argentina’s model, inevitably, has its own quirks – including the fact that relegation is determined by a points-per-game average.
AFA’s current 30-team top flight, established in 2014, is divided into two groups of 15. After a regular phase of 16 matches, the top eight in each zone progress to play-offs, which run until a grand final.
“It’s a mess. Before, there were two tournaments, Clausura and Apertura, 20 teams – it was clear,” complained Tomás Menconi, a 33-year-old River Plate fan. “Now it’s impossible to follow. Domestic titles are worth less and less.”
Many believe the proliferation of competitions and clubs is behind the supposed decline of domestic football, which runs contrary to the global success of the national team.
Despite the domestic struggles, the Albiceleste have excelled, picking up Copa America and World Cup titles with a team of stars who mostly ply their trade in the top European leagues.
But on the continental front, an Argentine side has not won the Copa Libertadores since 2018.
“Our league isn’t for a select few: it is popular, competitive and developmental,” Claudio ‘Chiqui’ Tapia, AFA president since 2017, insisted last week in a post on the X social network.
Tapia acknowledged in April that there may have been communication failures in explaining the purpose of expanding the number of clubs in competitions – an initiative already seen in the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
– TIMES/AFP
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